Health worker training

We work in parts of the world where severe health staff shortages are common, particularly in rural areas.

Health workers often lack basic knowledge of neglected diseases leading to increased prejudice. They may even refuse to treat people affected by diseases like leprosy and lymphatic filariasis.

Due to these problems people often have no choice but to use unqualified traditional doctors, paying high costs and often receiving for poor quality and potentially dangerous care.

Improving health worker skills

We work directly with the government health system to train health workers, increasing their skills and improving quality of care for patients.

This not only gives them the knowledge to treat neglected diseases and disability, but also makes them more accepting of people affected by neglected diseases.

Last year we trained over 20,000 government health staff and community health workers in India and Bangladesh, improving health care for the long term.

We also work with traditional doctors to ensure that they have the skills to recognise common diseases and refer patients to government health facilities for correct treatment.

Last year Lepra trained almost 7,000 traditional doctors, ensuring that people affected by neglected diseases are quickly referred for correct diagnosis and treatment.

Filling the gaps

To fill the gaps in health services and health worker shortages we help communities to build their own knowledge through health education, so they can respond to their own health needs.

We work with community based volunteers and train them to recognise the signs and symptoms of common neglected diseases.

These volunteers then work in their communities to spread health messages, follow up people on treatment for diseases like leprosy and TB, and refer suspected cases of illness to the appropriate health facility.

Last year we trained over 17,000 community health volunteers in India and Bangladesh to improve the health of their own communities and reduce dependence on the health system.

Help us train more health workers and reach more people in need of treatment and support.

We are recruiting for a Community Fundraiser in Edinburgh and surrounding areas to drive income generation and increase Lepra’s profile across regional communities by engaging, inspiring and developing a new demographic of supporters alongside the retention of an existing and loyal supporter base.

We're finding ways to ensure our data collection in the field is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. By using new mobile app technology KoBoToolbox, we can gather live information about the men, women and children that we are helping.

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Leprosy is completely curable, if treated early. Yet, tragically many people diagnosed today will already have terrible disabilities due to late diagnosis. Over 3 million more people are living in the shadows, with undiagnosed leprosy, and every day the disease causes more damage to their bodies, lives and futures.
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